Chapter 176: The Hour Still Ticks
Maki crossed her arms, huffing. "Ok, so you're not going to leave? You're sure? You're going to stay here from now on?"
Ren simply nods fast...
Maki's lips twitched upward, though she turned away quickly before he could notice...
Stupid… He called me all the way here just to say he isn't leaving. Hmph.
She started toward the door, her tone sharp but faintly lighter than usual. "Get better soon, idiot. I want to beat you up again. I swear, if your hand-to-hand has gotten worse, you're in for a real beating."
With that, she walked out in a mix of grumpiness and poorly hidden happiness.
Ren blinked, watching the door close behind her.
"The next time we fight, I will destroy you in hand-to-hand… That's a promise. Ugh, anyway. Hmm, I could keep acting sick for, hmm, give or take 7 days and skip classes and shit… Whatever, all I need is 7 days… But for now… I need to do something… before someone else walks on me…"
He let out a slow breath, eyes turning back toward the window.
Ren grabbed the window frame, pulling it wide. Without hesitation, he vaulted over, cursed energy flowing into his feet; he jumped fast and far into the tree nearby, and then I hugged the tree…
Before carefully climbing down hand over hand.
Ugh… can't risk landing flat. If my cursed energy slips for even a second, my legs are gone. Not worth the gamble.
His feet finally touched dirt, and he wasted no time. Walking briskly into the deeper woods, Ren muttered under his breath, "Rika."
The air around him warped as a looming shadow burst forth. The cursed energy connection surged into his body, heavy yet grounding, and Ren released a deep breath of relief.
Ugh… It's been more than forty minutes. The cooldown's off. But that isn't the main reason I need her…
His eyes narrowed.
The way I killed Sutoku was through Divine Writ… And with the "Hour of Undoing," there's a good chance that he might come back. That's why I made Rika store his whole body—to trap him inside while her cooldown locked her away. If he returns, it would be inside Rika, who was on cooldown. There is a high chance he won't be able to get out; then he might even just die again since I can't store living things inside Rika…
.
Ren raised his hand and gently brushed it across Rika's cheek. Her monstrous, jagged features softened under his touch, her cursed energy humming faintly like a heartbeat.
"Rika," he murmured, "are you fine? You have no clue how much trouble I have been in without you, and, uh, also sorry for summoning you back in that fight so suddenly. And sorry for locking you away with that binding vow…"
He blinked, a quiet thought lingering. From her point of view, all I've ever done is fight and fight, dragging her along. She's never complained, never questioned—always supporting me. My only constant, besides Mei Mei or Ogami… is Rika...
Slowly, Rika's mouth cracked open. A husky, distorted voice rasped out,
"It's fine… I am fine."
Broken words... and that's it. But Ren exhaled in relief anyway.
"Ok then," he said with a faint smile, "let's get out of here, shall we?"
He grabs her arm. At once, Rika wrapped both of her enormous arms around him and launched upward, soaring high into the air. The wind lashed against his skin as the forest shrank beneath them.
Minutes later, they broke past the barrier of Jujutsu High. Ren tapped her arm, signaling to descend. They dropped back into a dense patch of woodland, landing quietly among the trees.
Ren stepped away, cursed energy already prickling across his body, threads of Red Stitch twitching faintly at his fingertips.
"Rika," he ordered firmly, "take out the body. The one I told you about before. Do it slowly. If he moves—bite him and eat him whole. Don't store him; just eat him... Keep, like, a small part of him, something like a finger, nothing else..."
Rika tilted her head, then reached to her chest, opening it with clawed hands. The cursed energy around her warped and twisted, and from her body she began to draw something out.
Ren raised both hands, his stance coiled, ready to unleash everything at the first sign of movement.
Then he froze. His eyes widened.
"…What the—"
The body that emerged from Rika's chest storage was nothing like what Ren expected.